Exploring for Cuts in Shell's Spending

Royal Dutch Shell doesn't want to be known as the last of the big spenders. The U.K. oil and gas major this month said only about 30% of its capital investment goes on the type of ambitious, multibillion-dollar projects that delays and cost overruns have made unpopular with investors.

But Shell has been splurging elsewhere: on exploration.

Major oil companies are under constant pressure to replace their depleting resources,...